Xbox Game Pass earnings: Rare data revealed in filings for Activision Blizzard acquisition

Documents Microsoft filed to regulators around the world have been a great source of interesting information about its gaming business. It now appears that one of the filings also provides a rare look at how much the company is earning from Xbox Game Pass.

TweakTown spotted a document Microsoft submitted to the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), Brazil's regulatory agency, that indicated it earned $2.9 billion from Xbox Game Pass in 2021. The figure reportedly includes earnings from subscriptions on Xbox consoles only.

It can be recalled that Microsoft made the distinction between its Xbox and PC subscription services clearer by renaming the latter as PC Game Pass in late 2021. It is also unclear how much of the $2.9 billion earnings came from Game Pass Ultimate memberships, which combines services for Xbox consoles, PC, and mobile devices via Xbox Cloud Gaming.

The publication noted, based on figures Microsoft previously reported, that its overall gaming business (hardware, games, and services) generated $16.28 billion in the same year. This suggests Xbox Game Pass earnings accounted for about 18% of Microsoft's Xbox revenues in that period.

The discovery of the Xbox Game Pass earnings figure is a good find, especially since Microsoft seldom provides exact numbers of how much it is earning from the service. The clearest data consumers can refer to is the most recent Game Pass subscriber count, which Microsoft said grew to 25 million members during its Q2 FY2022 earnings call last January. That signifies a 7 million subscriber growth from the previous year.

Many have been questioning the sustainability of Microsoft's Game Pass, especially due to the company's drive to bring even big-budget AAA games to the subscription service at launch without additional cost. Xbox has also inked deals with third-party developers and publishers to have their games launch on Game Pass on day one, allowing subscribers to access them without paying the full price.

This unconventional gaming business model, however, is what Microsoft says drives the continuing growth of Game Pass. "Our differentiated content is driving the service's growth, and we released new AAA titles this holiday to rave reviews and record usage," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said last January.

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